Uncovering the uncommon in Common Core

Nov. 15, 2013

Updated 11:59 a.m.

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From left, Bolsa Grande High School's Christopher Reyes, Dalila Gonzalez and Christian Seyb rehearse "The Iliad, the Odyssey, and All of Greek Mythology in 99 Minutes or Less." DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER

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Bolsa Grande High School freshman Maia Carter rehearses "The Iliad, the Odyssey, and All of Greek Mythology in 99 Minutes or Less." DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER

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Bolsa Grande High School drama students rehearse "The Iliad, the Odyssey, and All of Greek Mythology in 99 Minutes or Less." DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER

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Bolsa Grande's theater teacher Alexis Karol assists Dalila Gonzalez before rehearsal of "The Iliad, the Odyssey, and All of Greek Mythology in 99 Minutes or Less." DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER

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Bolsa Grande High School senior Alexandria Simmons rehearses a scene in "The Iliad, the Odyssey, and All of Greek Mythology in 99 Minutes or Less." DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER

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Bolsa Grande High School senior Christopher Reyes rehearses "The Iliad, the Odyssey, and All of Greek Mythology in 99 Minutes or Less." DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER

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Bolsa Grande High School senior Alexandria Simmons rehearses "The Iliad, the Odyssey, and All of Greek Mythology in 99 Minutes or Less." DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER

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Bolsa Grande High School senior Alexandria Simmons, left, rehearses "The Iliad, the Odyssey, and All of Greek Mythology in 99 Minutes or Less." DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER

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Bolsa Grande High School seniors Alexandria Simmons and Christopher Reyes rehearse "The Iliad, the Odyssey, and All of Greek Mythology in 99 Minutes or Less." DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER

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Bolsa Grande High School drama students rehearse "The Iliad, the Odyssey, and All of Greek Mythology in 99 Minutes or Less." DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER

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From left, Bolsa Grande High School's Christopher Reyes and Christian Seyb rehearse "The Iliad, the Odyssey, and All of Greek Mythology in 99 Minutes or Less." DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER

From left, Bolsa Grande High School's Christopher Reyes, Dalila Gonzalez and Christian Seyb rehearse "The Iliad, the Odyssey, and All of Greek Mythology in 99 Minutes or Less."DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER

At Bolsa Grande High School in Garden Grove, I am directing a group of 20 dedicated students in a production of “The Iliad, the Odyssey, and All of Greek Mythology in 99 Minutes or Less,” quite obviously a comedy, which we more affectionately refer to as “The Greek Play.” This play’s modern slapstick approach takes material many students dread reading and spins it “Saturday Night Live”-style, translating it into a brand of humor that appeals to teenage sensibilities.

As a theater teacher, I am determined to provide valuable and productive experiences for my students that will help prepare them for college and a career. In the current educational climate, this path is clearly outlined by the Common Core State Standards, or “Common Core.” If you’ve opened a newspaper, listened to the radio or turned on the television recently, you may be aware that these new standards will go into effect in most states in the nation in fall 2014.

Common Core standards came as a response to “the gap,” a well-documented phenomenon in which our students gain acceptance into college but are ill-prepared to thrive there. Common Core calls for more rigor at every grade level. It relies on standards that are skill-based rather than content-based. This means that rather than teaching students prescribed material, we are shifting our focus to teaching students skills that will enable them to think and learn on their own. The long-term goal is to raise students who are self-reliant and have the endurance to handle the complex challenges that college and career experiences present.

While “The Greek Play” is pure fun, amid the jokes and laughter I have challenged my students to take an academic approach. Among the Common Core standards, we are asked to help our students “analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama or poem, evaluating how each version interprets the source text.” This play presents a way to make clear-cut connections to works of literature like “The Odyssey” that are already a part of the core school curriculum.

The first challenge I presented pointed the students directly to the source materials, including “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey” themselves, as well as Greek history and mythology. Each student was assigned to research every character that he or she plays. With over 130 roles divided among the cast, this was no small order. Because this work was done in the name of putting on a play, what I found was that all the students, even those who may struggle in their academic coursework, discovered not only a sense of curiosity about the material, but also a sense of responsibility to accurately represent the characters they were portraying.

“I looked up Aphrodite last night,” senior Ally Simmons excitedly reported to me early on in the process, “and now I understand why she treats Hephaestus so poorly. She was forced to marry him!” I had her share this discovery with the cast and watched 20 sets of eyes light up. Questions began to fly, and the opportunity to ask, “Why is this funny?” or “What does this mean?” quickly became an important factor in our rehearsals.

During one rehearsal, assistant director Angelica Stramer howled hysterically when she heard Achilles tease Oedipus, saying, “I’m sorry, I don’t think Hallmark even makes a card for that.” A handful of students admitted they had no idea why it was so laughter-inducing. Another student explained that Oedipus killed his father and married his mother. “Oh, now I get it!”

My hope was that “The Greek Play” would not only help these students find the source materials more easily accessible, but that it would also help them discover that they can crack the code of the plays they do by consulting research from outside the play to help them make sense of their overall work.

By creating a foundation of knowledge based in research, the students were able to translate this knowledge into honest, authentic performances rather than using 99 minutes to simply try to make their peers laugh. I trust that the audience will indeed laugh, but it’s the cast’s honest depiction of the situations that breed the comedy rather than gimmicky, humor-for-humor’s sake shenanigans.

I am quite proud of how my students have embraced the work and are delivering mature, nuanced performances. Using the guidelines presented by the Common Core standards not only helps the students inform their work on this play, but it prepares them for the world beyond high school, where they will have to take a critical approach to solving a problem.

Perhaps our shift to Common Core will create and nurture in our students a desire for uncommon experiences. It is my hope that the uncommon experience of discovering “The Greek Play” will ignite the desire in them to continue to search for knowledge and solutions rather than wait for those ideas to be presented to them.

Alexis Karol teaches drama at Bolsa Grande High School in Garden Grove.

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